THE STATE OF SEPARATION BENEFITS IN AMERICA

A new survey of Human Resources professionals believes things are changing in severance and separation benefits that will impact employer brand and talent management.

Lee Hecht Harrison, a talent development and transition company, and Compensation Resources, Inc., a consulting firm, surveyed 350 senior human resources executives and leaders who are responsible for helping their organizations manage talent. The main topics explored in this study included severance, outplacement, redeployment, stay bonuses and early retirement programs.

Among the major findings in the 2017-2018 Severance & Separation Benefits Study is that severance remains the method-of-choice for organizations concerned with protecting employer brand: almost all businesses (97%) in the study said they offer some form of severance.

However, the study found only 55 percent have formal, written severance policies. That is a decline from the 2011 survey results, when 65 percent had formal severance policies.

The survey of Human Resources managers also revealed that fewer businesses are setting firm minimum and maximum severance amounts. In 2011, more than 70 percent of businesses had written policies on minimum and maximum severance; by 2017, it dropped to just over half (52%).

Notwithstanding these trends, the message from Human Resources professionals was clear: severance and separation benefits that include new approaches to outplacement continue to play a key role in the war for talent.

“We’re definitely seeing more companies moving away from formal, written policies in favor of more flexible terms,” said Greg Simpson, Senior Vice President and Career Transition Practice Leader at Lee Hecht Harrison. “That having been said, the survey shows clearly that severance and separation benefits remain among the best ways for a company to protect its brand.”

Driven by the relentless technological and demographic changes in today’s economy, Simpson said most companies are in a constant state of transformation—eliminating jobs while at the same time opening up new opportunities. The LHH survey shows that severance and separation benefits are key tools in the management of transformation initiatives.

The research also identifies how the redeployment of talent—placing people in new roles within the organization as opposed to simply laying them off—is an underutilized strategy. Only 19 percent of surveyed organizations have implemented some form of redeployment program.